If you are birding with your iPhone, then you have probably considered getting an external microphone to record bird sounds with your iPhone. You have probably noticed that the built in microphone of your iPhone cannot capture bird sounds at a distance. In this video you will hear a test of recording bird sounds using the the internal microphone of the iPhone 6 versus the Edutige EIM-001. This test was conducted by Jenna Curtis, a researcher from the University of Oregon, who went to Panama to record Bird sounds and needed a compact, yet powerful microphone to record bird sounds using her iPhone 6.

Big thanks to Jenna for the following video…

Jenna’s original video is here:

The results

Although I am not a birding expert, the recordings that Jenna made of the birds using her iPhone versus the external EIM-001 are strikingly different. With the iPhone’s built-in microphone, the bird sounds were much more faint; however, using the EIM-001 allowed the iPhone to record the bird sounds much more clearly and it also captured other bird sounds, as well. Or at least I think those were birds.

Jenna said…

“The EIM-001 definitely increased the range and volume of my iPhone recordings. It was also able to pick up a wider range of frequencies than the iPhone could on its own.”

But why the EIM-001 and not the EIM-003?

Many people have asked whether they should buy the EIM-001 or the EIM-003 for recording the bird sounds with there iPhone. And the answer is it depends on what you are hoping to achieve.

If you would like I’ll much louder recording, which may be useful if the birds are further away, then the EIM-001 would be a good choice.

If your recordings require the best audio quality, then I would suggest the EIM-003, as it was made for recording music. What that means is the EIM-003 offers better audio quality but at the expense of not increasing the recording volume.

This is also something that Jenna mentioned in her review of the EIM-001 microphone…

“I would agree with Edutige’s recommendation that, for high-quality and high sound fidelity, the EIM-003 might be a better choice. However, if you need to increase the volume of your recordings, to catch sounds that might be high/low frequency or very far away, the EIM-001 is a solid microphone at an unbeatable price.”

What are your thoughts?

Have a listen to the Bird sounds recorded with the iPhones built-in microphone versus the external EIM-001 microphone and let me know your thoughts. Also let me know if you have any questions.